As the runoff for the May 21st Los Angeles City race for Mayor nears a new poll released this week indicates that Controller Wendy Greuel with a slim one point lead over City Councilman Eric Garcetti.

A survey from the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State Los Angeles revealed Greuel with 46 percent and Garcetti with 45 percent, and nine percent of the voters were undecided.

The poll indicates a stark contract to other polls that showed Garcetti with a double-digit lead week ago and further underlines the significance of the African American vote.

Greuel is vying to become the city’s first female mayor in the history. She has the backing of prominent African American leaders including the Sentinel in addition to former President Bill Clinton and Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

The numbers are in dramatic contrast to a USC/L.A. Times poll released on April 20th that showed Garcetti with a 10-point lead.

According to the poll, Greuel is leading among African-American and white voters. She is also 11 points ahead with women voters. Garcetti leads among Latino and Asian-American voters.

The results are based on phone surveys with 674 likely voters between April 29 and May 7. There is a margin of error of four points.